FALL 2019

ELETHE MALUMNI MAGAZINEENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Dear Alumni and Friends of the Department,

Welcome to the Fall 2019 issue of Elements. Fall 2019 was both extremely busy and incredibly successful for the department. In May 2019, Virginia Tech announced that a record number of freshman had indicated acceptance of admission for the Fall 2019 semester. Working with the College of Science, College of Engineering, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the University Registrar, our department immediately went to work to address the enormous challenge. We started planning for 7,700 freshman (final enrollment 7,604) with the realization that about 70 percent of the over-enrollment would need introductory-level general chemistry. Much of the burden for providing this instruction would fall upon our seven dedicated general chemistry instructors as well as Victoria Long and Michelle Dalton in our general chemistry laboratory. This fall, we ran 120 sections of general chemistry laboratory (2,880 seats) by utilizing six labs, four sections/day, five days/week, and offered 11 sections of non-majors general chemistry lectures to accommodate 3,347 students. This spring, we will be running nearly 1,000 students through four different classes: first and second semester general chemistry lecture and lab. In Fall 2020, the focus will switch to organic chemistry and planning is already underway.

While these challenges were immense, they were not insurmountable with additional resources afforded to the department by the Provost and educational initiatives already underway within the department. In this issue of Elements, we highlight new curricula and other educational initiatives designed to allow the department to remain relevant in the future and to continue to provide an efficient, high-quality education to thousands of students per year. As in past issues, we also share with you a subset of our faculty, student and alumni successes. We hope you enjoy the issue and, as always, thank you for your unwavering support of our department.

Sincerely,

Alan Esker Chair, Department of Chemistry

2 ELEMENTS FALL 2019 CONTENTS EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Alan Esker Writer: Corrin Lundquist FEATURE: RESHAPING EDUCATION Design: Corrin Lundquist 4

DEPARTMENT OF OF NOTE: CHEMISTRY Department Chair: Alan Esker 8 Joseph Merola Named ACS Fellow Associate Chair: Amanda Morris New Faces Director of Undergraduate Programs: Louis Madsen Promoted to Full Professor Patricia Amateis Director of the Graduate Program: Valerie Welborn Joins Faculty John Morris Amanda Morris Named Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellow Greg Liu Named Blackwood Junior Faculty Fellow New in Research TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Notable Awards We welcome your comments Abby Bratton Shares Impact of the Ward Fellowship and story ideas for future issues: [email protected] Chengzhe Gao Receives Eastman Fellowship

KEEP UP WITH US Follow us on Facebook (VTCHEM) IN MEMORIAM: JOHN SCHUG and Twitter (@VTChemDept) 14

Virginia Tech is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action institution.

ON THE COVER Two freshmen chemistry majors work together in the new Hahn Hall North 301 laboratory classroom. Read more on page 6. 3 FEATURE RESHAPING EDUCATION Facing new challenges with an increase in enrollment numbers, the department is reshaping what it looks like to teach chemistry to more students than ever.

BY CORRIN LUNDQUIST

With every incoming class of freshmen comes new challenges, 36 percent of the freshman class coming from underrespresented as ever-changing technology, students from increasingly diverse or underserved groups including first-generation students, backgrounds and large class sizes become the norm. Instructors transfer students, veterans and low-income students. The within the department are often the leaders of change, taking department is working to meet their needs by introducing a on classes that educate hundreds of students each semester new course for students who may desire more community (see and maintaining the high caliber of instruction for which the “Reshaping Experiences”). department is known. Lastly, large class sizes remain an important part of teaching Over th past few years, technology has improved rapidly and introductory lectures and instructors Maggie Bump and online learning has become more ubiquitous across college Michael Berg are working to help students be more successful campuses. The format is still being perfected, but advanced and meeting them where they are (see: “Reshaping Confidence instructor Vicki Long has developed a useful application for it through Second Chances”). in the lab (see “Reshaping Scientificy Writing Pedagogy”). Read on to see more about how our instructors are paving the Students now come from increasingly diverse backgrounds, with way to maintaining a high quality chemistry education.

4 ELEMENTS / FEATURE

RESHAPING CONFIDENCE THROUGH SECOND CHANCES

Drs. Michael Berg and Maggie Bump are two stalwart instructors of the department’s large organic chemistry lectures. Between the pair, their first-semester organic chemistry lectures had almost 850 students enrolled this fall.

Organic chemistry can be a difficult subject for students who are more accustomed to the math-based curriculum of general RESHAPING SCIENTIFIC WRITING PEDAGOGY chemistry. A few years ago, the two instructors started noticing the grade data indicated that performance on the first exam How do you teach scientific writing to 2,880 incoming new could serve as a predictor of success in the class. students in 120 sections of general chemistry laboratories with 42 graduate teaching assistants? “Part of what’s happening is their confidence is undermined: if they fail the first test, they give up,” explained Maggie. Mike This is the challenge that Vicki Long has tackled. She and her added, “Our thought process was to do a Test 1 ‘do over’.” team collected data from this fall’s 2,880 students to evaluate their perception of the importance of learning to write a well- That year, the fall break fell shortly after the first exam, so they developed report as well as their experience writing scientific developed an “Organic Chemistry Boot Camp”: a full-day session reports. 75 percent of the incoming students felt that writing that would review the topics covered on the test. The boot camp a well-developed scientific report would be very important for took place on the Friday of fall break and the students could re- their academic and future careers, yet 45 percent had little to no take the exam on Saturday. experience writing a scientific report.

At the end of the semester, they analyzed the data and realized To address this, Vicki co-developed and now utilizes online the number of students who had withdrawn from the course active and adaptive lessons for scientific writing with a “Step- had decreased. They took this data to the Center for Excellence wise Writing Approach” for writing assignments. in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to work on developing a grant to see if this data could be replicated. The active learning modules promote learning by doing, thus engaging students through scientifically accurate and graphically The pair was awarded a grant from CETL’s Teaching Large rich simulations to help them explore and understand complex Classes Instructional Grant Program to create an “Intensive concepts. Additionally, these online modules are adaptive, short course for the remediation of a self-selected, initially meaning they change and respond to each student’s knowledge, underperforming cohort in a large organic chemistry class.” skills and learning needs. The modules were designed specifically While the past two years’ academic calendars haven’t lined up for the writing components and divided the information into with the curriculum schedule, the pair haven’t given up looking six lessons: citations, concision and clarity, tense and voice, lab for solutions for student success. reports, presenting data and reading data critically.

Maggie indicated that the work isn’t over yet. “What we’re A step-wise and scaffold approach was used for the post- continuing to investigate is how their confidence in their ability laboratory assignments which allowed students to gain versus their understanding of the material can contribute to competency one section at a time. The scaffold approach their success in the course.” provided a series of questions after the lab, the answers to which students combined to write that section. The goal is that by the end of the course, students will complete formal laboratory written reports of the last three experiments. So far, Vicki and her team have been exceptionally pleased with the students’ progress in learning to write reports, and students have been receptive to the material.

For Vicki’s full report, visit the department’s website at www.chem.vt.edu/about-us/elements

FALL 2019 5 FEATURE /

RESHAPING LAB SPACE (LITERALLY)

Over the summer, Hahn Hall North 301 was renovated to become a new lab space for General Chemistry Laboratory for Majors. The space previously held the Chemistry Learning Center (CLC) which was moved to the second floor of Davidson Hall. Along with the new lab space comes new instrumentation from Shimadzu, including a gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer. Check out these photos of the lab in action.

A student in General Chemistry for Majors Lab performs a titration. A row of balances waiting for use. Most of the equipment in the new lab migrated over from the old General Chemistry Laboratory.

The new lab is clean, prepped and ready for students.

A pair of students work together on a titration in the new Hahn Hall North 301 lab.

6 ELEMENTS / FEATURE

RESHAPING CHEMISTRY MAJORS

Today’s students, facing a rapidly advancing and ever- competitive job market, often already have ideas about what they want to do after college. In an effort to remain competitive, the department introduced two new majors targeted towards students with more specialized career aspirations.

The new majors, polymer chemistry and medicinal chemistry, are being offered in addition to the department’s two chemistry majors: the American Chemical Society-accredited bachelor of science in chemistry major and the bachelor of arts in chemistry major.

All four majors require courses in foundation areas such as general chemistry, organic chemistry and analytical chemistry. From there, the two new majors diverge, allowing students to gain more knowledge and expertise in their specialized field.

The medicinal chemistry major appeals to students that fall into one of two camps: those that are aiming to focus on patient care RESHAPING EXPERIENCES (e.g. medicine, pharmacy, etc.) and those that wish to perform research (e.g. drug discovery). This major caters to both their In 2018, the department joined the second cohort of the needs, with 25 credits devoted to free electives for students that university’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) need to take prerequisites for professional degree programs as Inclusive Excellence Program. The program’s goal is to build well as the opportunity to take higher level chemistry courses inclusive educational practices in the sciences. To this end, the such as green chemistry and drug chemistry. department’s team of faculty members, led by associate chair Amanda Morris, created and offered a second semester of the Majoring in polymer chemistry leads students in a different department's First Year Experience course, dubbed FYE 2. direction and capitalizes on the department’s strength in polymer research. These students take electives covering Most academic departments at Virginia Tech require their subjects including polymer and surface chemistry, polymer incoming freshman majors to take a First Year Experience synthesis and process materials to help prepare them for future (FYE) course in the fall semester to build their academic support careers in industry and academia. community within their cohort as they make the transition from high school into college. This close-knit community is a crucial With the creation of these new majors, students are not only component to success in higher education, but for students from exposed to the wide range of careers that a degree in chemistry underrepresented groups, it can be more difficult to achieve. affords, but can begin working towards them right away. Many of these students, such as transfer students, come from different backgrounds and bring with them a variety of skills. Because community is often built on shared experiences, it can be more difficult for these students to relate to their peers. To address this issue, the HHMI team developed FYE 2 for transfer students to continue to build their academic support community with their faculty and peers. FYE 2, taught by instructor Candace Wall, tasked students with learning a new skill, such as woodworking, metalworking or computer-assisted design, and creating something. Projects ranged from a functioning UV- Vis spectrometer to a 3D-printed rubber duck and the course culminated in a final project exposition showcasing the story of their design and prototypes. Because of the success of the course, it will run a second time in Spring 2020.

FALL 2019 7 OF NOTE JOSEPH MEROLA NAMED FELLOW OF AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

BY CORRIN LUNDQUIST

In June, professor Joe Merola was announced as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS). He was among 70 new fellows and is the ninth to be honored from the department. Only 1–2 percent of the ACS’ 151,000 members are selected for the lifelong designation. His group also investigated the chemistry of the very electron “In any profession, the greatest recognition one can get is the rich iridium complex [Ir(COD)(PMe3)3]Cl complex which was recognition of their peers,” Merola wrote. “So I am extremely capable of carrying out the oxidation of E-H bonds where E+ honored to have been chosen as an American Chemical Society H, B, C, N, and O. This led to two specific discoveries. For B-H Fellow this year. As I look at the other members of this year’s addition, his group was able to isolate Ir(B)H complexes and Fellows (and, indeed all of the previous fellows), I am humbled to show how they are intermediates in hydroboration catalysis. For be given this recognition. Although I am receiving this honor, I H-H addition, this led to a whole new area of aqueous catalysis. am really only the ‘front person’ for many, many others who have Most recently, his group is showing that transition metal been a part of my life, both personal and professional, as I have organometallic complexes can contribute not only to anti-cancer made my chemical journey: my family, my friends, my students, chemistry, but also to anti-microbial chemistry, a property that my colleagues and I am sure many others who have helped me was uncommonly reported before their 2013 report. along the way.” Through all of his outstanding service and research, Merola Merola was recognized for his substantial contributions to has remained committed to his teaching and mentoring, organometallic chemistry, chemical education and outreach, winning awards throughout his career for teaching excellence. graduate and undergraduate student mentorship, and Throughout his career as a lecturer, he has been pushing administration throughout his 30+ year career at Virginia Tech. boundaries and has published on the scholarship of teaching and bringing innovative technologies into the classroom. He Before joining the faculty in 1987, Merola worked for Exxon, has been active in outreach and has given over 100 lectures/ now ExxonMobil, for nearly ten years. He was promoted to full demonstrations for K-12 students. Merola has mentored a large professor in 1995 and has since served the school in a number of number of undergraduates, specifically students with minimal capacities: as chair of the Department of Chemistry, as associate experience, through undergraduate research, motivating them dean for research and outreach for the former College of Arts & and helping them achieve new levels of performance. He has Sciences and as acting dean of the Graduate School. won three Certificates of Teaching Excellence from the College of Science, both of the university’s highest teaching excellence While his service record has been exemplary, his research honors: the University Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence has been equally noteworthy. In the 1980s, the area of idenyl and the University Wine Award for Teaching Excellence, and metal chemistry was generating tremendous interest. It was most recently received the Teaching/Research Faculty Award surmised that the reason for the greater reactivity of indenyl for Excellence in Access and Inclusion. vs. cyclopentadienyl was the presumed ability of the indenyl to become eta-3. In 1986, he was able to demonstrate the Merola and his cohort of Fellows were honored at the American conversion of an eta-5 to eta-3 iridium complex including the Chemical Society’s Fall National Meeting in San Diego, CA. first crystallographically determined eta-3 iridium complex.

8 ELEMENTS / OF NOTE

NEW FACES LOUIS MADSEN PROMOTED TO FULL PROFESSOR

In June, Lou Madsen was promoted to full professor by the Board of Visitors. Madsen’s research group explores the structure, morphology and transport in conducting polymers, ionic gels, ionic liquids, liquid crystals and micelle/surfactant systems. These materials have applications in advanced batteries, water purification systems and agents for drug delivery and medical imaging. In 2013, Madsen won the department’s John C. Schug Research Award and has made news headlines and been featured on National Public Radio for his ALEC WAGNER, Ph.D., recently joined developments and discoveries, most recently for discovering the double-helix structure of the faculty as an instructor of general a high-strength polymer called “PBDT.” chemistry. Alec is no stranger to Virginia Tech; he received both his The PBDT discovery was published in Nature Communications and later as a news article Master of Science (John Morris, 2012) in the MRS Bulletin. Now that researchers know PBDT’s structure, its potential for use can and Ph.D. (Karen Brewer, 2015) from extend beyond batteries. Its rigidity ratio of 1,000 to 1 makes it one of the stiffest molecules the department. (1D nanostructures) discovered so far, and means that only a tiny amount should be needed in a reinforced composite to achieve comparable performance to conventional composites.

VALERIE WELBORN JOINS FACULTY

Already in her second year with the Valerie Welborn, Ph.D., has joined the faculty as an assistant professor of theoretical department, TINA LAWRENCE has chemistry. Her research focuses on the multiscale simulation of complex interfaces, become an instrumental part of the specifically interconversion kinetics of ion channels, water dynamics in mammalian bone department’s business office as the new and interfaces in nanoelectronics. grants coordinator. She previously worked as a compliance associate with Welborn earned her Ph.D. in physics in 2014 at Imperial College London’s Centre for the Office of Sponsored Programs at Doctoral Training on Theory and Simulation of Materials. Under the advising of Jenny Virginia Tech, and has been with the Nelson and Piers Barnes, her thesis focused on the modeling of intermolecular charge university for fifteen years. transfer in dye sensitized solar cells. She then went onto two postdoctoral fellowships: the first from 2015–2017 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Troy Van Voorhis where she gained expertise in electronic structure methods for condensed phase systems, and the second from 2017–2019 at the University of California, Berkeley under Teresa Head-Gordon, focusing on the characterization of enzymatic function via molecular dynamics. Welcome, Valerie!

FALL 2019 9 OF NOTE /

AMANDA MORRIS NAMED PATRICIA CALDWELL FACULTY FELLOW

Associate Professor Amanda Morris was Her work, inspired by nature’s phosynthetic appointed to the Patricia Caldwell Faculty system, has led to advances in catalysis and light Fellowship, which was recently established in harvesting mimics, specifically in the realm 2019 to enhance the national and international of metal organic frameworks (MOFs). Her prominence of the College of Science. investigations of energy transfer phenomena in MOFs have led to transformative scientific results Morris joined the department in 2011 and was that have broken previous scientific precedence awarded tenure in 2017. In her eight years and thought and have major implications for with the deparmtent, she has published more energy transfer systems. than 40 peer-reviewed articles and attracted over $2 million in funding. She has won Morris has most recently been serving as numerous external awards including the Inter- the department’s associate chair. Since her American Photochemical Society (I-APS) Young appointment, she has led the iniative to get Investigator Award in 2017, an Alfred P. Sloan approval for the department’s two newest Research Fellowship in 2016 and a National undergraduate majors, polymer chemistry and Science Foundation CAREER award in 2016. medicinal chemistry, from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).

GREG LIU NAMED BLACKWOOD JUNIOR FACULTY FELLOW

Assistant Professor Guoliang “Greg” Liu was The Liu lab has been focused on polymers for appointed to the Blackwood Junior Faculty energy and environmental sciences, specifically Fellowship. The Fellowship was established in on block copolymer-based functional porous 2006 to provide support for a leading faculty carbon fibers. Carbon fiber is an important low- member who holds the rank of assistant or density material with exceptional properties that associate professor to forward the advancement make it ideal for high-performance engineering of the life sciences with a complementary focus support. Synthesizing functional porous on entrepreneurial development. carbon fiber with uniform pores enables a wide range of new applications including fuel cells, Liu joined the department in 2014 and in his five batteries, supercapacitors, and separation and years as a faculty member, he has guided several filtration membranes. Another aspect of the research projects and has taught a number of Liu lab’s research program is nanocomposites courses. Along with his strong mentorship, Liu of polymers and plasmonic nanoparticles. These has developed an impressive scholarship record, nanocomposites have great potential for energy with at least 50 publications in nanoscience, efficient tinted glass, light activated membranes chemistry and engineering journals; 16 patents; and other applications for which Liu has recently numerous presentations at conferences and received an National Science Foundation universities and over $3.5 million in funding. CAREER award to continue his research.

10 ELEMENTS / OF NOTE NEW IN RESEARCH NEW BATTERY ELECTROLYTE NEW BOOK Professor Lou Madsen and Assistant Professor Feng Lin have In 2007, Professor Felicia Etzkorn created an advanced teamed up to develop a solid-state battery electrolyte in an undergraduate course in green chemistry and began working on effort to improve the safety and storage capacity compared to a textbook for the course in 2015. Her book, “Green Chemistry: conventional lithium-ion batteries. Together, they have been Principles and Case Studies,” will be published in January by the awarded $1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Royal Society of Chemistry. The textbook is targeted at advanced Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) undergraduate students and first-year graduate students with a Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). Their aim is to remove the foundation in organic chemistry and introduces the principles risk of fire from lithium batteries; increase the energy storage of green chemistry through real-world case studies. density to allow for smaller, lighter batteries and increase the temperature range over which the batteries can operate. NEW SOFTWARE NEW ALGORITHM A collaborative team including Professor Eduard Valeyev has been awarded a 5-year, $4.1 million grant from the National Assistant Professor Nick Mayhall and his collaborators in Science Foundation for their project titled “Collaborative the Department of Physics have published a paper in Nature Research: Frameworks: Production Quality Ecosystem for Communications, titled “An adaptive variational algorithm for Programming and Executing eXtreme-scale Applications exact molecular simulations on a quantum computer.” The (EPEXA).” The grant supports the creation of an advanced algorithm allows for more accurate molecular simulations and software ecosystem to address both productivity and has the potential to make quantum computers a reality quicker performance issues present in current programming paradigms. and allow larger molecule simulations to be solved significantly The software ecosystem will bridge the “valley of death” between sooner than previously predicted. successful proofs of principle and high-quality implementation.

Alumnus PAUL CHIRIK (B.S. ’95) received the 2019 NOTABLE Advanced Environmental Solutions award from Eni for his work in catalysis.

AWARDS Graduate student CHENGZHE GAO (Edgar group), received Advanced Instructor SHAMINDRI ARACHCHIGE received the 2019 Eastman Chemical Company Fellowship. a Certificate of Teaching Excellence from the College of Science for the 2018–19 academic year. At the 2019 IUPAC meeting in Paris, Associate Professor JOHN MATSON was named a Titular Member of the IUPAC Undergraduates MADISON BARDOT (Schulz group) and Polymer Division for the 2020–21 biennium. SCOTT McGUIGAN (Lin group), both seniors, received an Undergraduate Research Grant from the Virginia Academy of Sciences at the Fall Undergraduate Research Associate Professor AMANDA MORRIS received an Outreach Meeting at Christopher Newport University. Excellence Award from the College of Science for the 2018–19 academic year. The Fall 2019 Graduate School Doctoral Assistantship awardees were: MENG CAI (A. Morris group), ASHLEY LINQIN MU, Ph.D., a postdoc in Feng Lin’s lab, received GATES (Santos group), KULJEET KAUR (Matson group), and the competitive Battery Division Postdoctoral Associate XIULI LI (Madsen group). Research Award from the Electrochemical Society.

FALL 2019 11 OF NOTE / GRAD STUDENT ABBY BRATTON SHARES HOW THE WARD FELLOWSHIP MADE A BIG IMPACT BY ABBY BRATTON

Professor Emeritus Tom Ward and graduate student Abby Bratton. Abby is the inaugural recipient of the Thomas C. Ward Graduate Student Fellowship, which was started by Dr. Ward’s former students to honor his legacy. Photo courtesy of Ann Norris with permission.

Before my graduate career, I studied chemistry at Murray been so kind and helpful. I began work early in Dr. John Matson’s State University in Kentucky with minors in math and biology. I lab and I want to thank Dr. Matson and all of my labmates for was co-advised by Dr. Harry Fannin, physical chemistry, and Dr. their support and guidance. The people I have worked with have Kevin Miller, polymer chemistry. Dr. Miller did postdoctorate helped my transition to graduate school be as smooth as possible. research at Virginia Tech in Dr. Tim Long’s polymer group. This The collaboration I have seen and participated in at Virginia is why he suggested that I apply to Virginia Tech for graduate Tech is unlike many other schools. school in addition to the other schools I was applying to at the time. I was undecided going into the visitation weekends and Looking through Dr. Ward’s research, he worked with a Tech’s visitation was the last weekend I had on my schedule. It lot of different topics in polymer physical chemistry. Some wasn’t until I came to Virginia Tech that I was sure of where of them include adhesives, microwave chemistry, inverse I was going to attend. During visitation weekend, everyone gas chromatography, self-healing polymers, and star shaped seemed very nice and the department acted like everyone was polymers. This does not begin to touch on the amount of research family. I enjoyed the research and the amount of collaboration that was conducted and discoveries found in his lab during his that went on in the department. I loved the polymer department time at Virginia Tech. I was able to meet Dr. Ward and his wife and the location of the school and I was also offered the Thomas Randall, and he is such a humble person even though he has C. Ward Graduate Student Fellowship upon acceptance. All of contributed a lot of knowledge to the polymer realm and has these aspects helped me decide that Virginia Tech was the school taught many ACS polymer short courses. Dr. Ward is a great I wanted to attend. teacher and researcher as seen in his accomplishments. He gave me encouragement to work hard in my graduate career and try I want to thank everyone for their support, especially the to make the most out of every day and opportunity. I want to people that made the Ward Fellowship happen. This fellowship thank him, his family, and everyone again for this fellowship and has helped me in my graduate career and helped me make my opportunity at Virginia Tech. decision to attend Virginia Tech. Upon arriving, everyone has

12 ELEMENTS OF NOTE / GRAD STUDENT CHENGZHE GAO MAKES STRIDES IN SUSTAINABILITY WITH EASTMAN FELLOWSHIP BY CORRIN LUNDQUIST

work Professor Edgar was doing in biopolymers, but it wasn’t until after he began thinking seriously about his work and looking for an adviser that he realized he wanted to work with renewable resources.

“Almost all the materials are [based on] petroleum. Not only is the cost of petroleum getting higher and higher, but the source is becoming rarer and rarer,” Chengzhe says. “After 100 years, what are our children and grandchildren going to use? That’s the main reason I’m interested in developing renewable and sustainable materials.”

The Edgar lab has been working on a different source for polymers: plants. Polysaccharide derivatives, like the ones Chengzhe is working on, are based on natural polysaccharides Chemistry graduate student Chengzhe Gao received the (chains of sugars) which comprise much of the weight of plants. 2019 Eastman Chemical Company Fellowship which assists Specifically, Chengzhe works with polysaccharides that come outstanding students in their research. Chengzhe will receive a from trees. He hopes that as the research improves, more people $5,000 stipend to help fund his dissertation project. will switch to the greener source and away from petroleum- based materials. “We need to plan for the future,” he says. In Professor Kevin Edgar’s lab in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials within the College of Natural Resources and His dedication to sustainability goes even one step further than Environment, Chengzhe has been working on creating analogs others in his group: the use of greener reagents. Specifically, of the polysaccharides that are crucial to all vertebrate life: he is trying to use water as a solvent to get away from the glycosaminoglycans. Natural glycosaminoglycans govern organic solvents one typically finds in the lab. This isn’t easy, critical life processes such as blood clotting and the development as the organic solvents, though potentially toxic, work better. of the central nervous system, and Chengzhe is working to Nevertheless, Chengzhe will keep trying. He says he finds create sulfated analogs that may have biomedical applications, inspiration from activists such as Greta Thunberg, the Swedish specifically in anti-coagulants. Blood thinners currently on the 17-year-old environmental activist who has made headlines market may have to be administered constantly and may cause for starting the international movement “School Strike for the excessive bleeding. Glycosaminoglycan analogs may be able Climate” that protests climate change. The Eastman award, he to prevent clot formation longer from a single dose without says, has also inspired him to keep going. putting patients at risk for excessive bleeding. “Previously, people did not realize [sustainability] was an issue. His work on pharmaceuticals builds upon his undergraduate When all of the people realize this is an issue, we can more work: Chengzhe earned a bachelor of science in pharmaceutical easily find a solution. I’m quite proud of my research, and it feels science from China Pharmaceutical University in Nanjing in cool to be recognized. Not many people are interested in this 2013. He landed at Virginia Tech while looking at polymer type of research, so [receiving] this award is encouragement to chemistry schools for a Ph.D. A friend had told him about the continue.”

FALL 2019 13 IN MEMORIAM

14 ELEMENTS / IN MEMORIAM

John C. Schug March 31, 1936 – May 23, 2019

BY KEVIN A. SCHUG

Dr. John C. Schug, Ph.D. left this world on May 23, adept at dressage. Lin passed away unexpectedly in April 2019 after more than 83 years of a full and fruitful life. 1997 and John retired from Virginia Tech in 2001 and was He was a loving, accomplished, and hard-working man. granted emeritus status. He was a mentor, an educator, a scientist, a scholar, a horseman, a naturalist, a huntsman, a sportsman, a farmer, John was married to his second wife, Nina, in April 2003. a family man, and a gentleman. His faith and devotion John and Nina relocated to Drexel, North Carolina to enjoy to the Catholic Church was unerring. He was convinced their horses and retirement together in 2004. During his that his science and his religion were interwoven in such retirement years, John took up drawing and sketching; he meaningful ways that yet are to be fully understood. He also had an immense love for playing bridge with his local loved games, being challenged, and challenging others. friends. He remained active in his local parish, and many He was a trusted friend to the many individuals his life times prepared lectures on the intersection of science and touched; many of his acquaintances describe him as having religion for his fellow parishoners. He was always a huge had “a heart of gold.” fan of trivia games, crossword puzzles and other board games. As a Scrabble player, his superior vocabulary made John was born March 31, 1936 in Queens, Long Island, him a nearly unbeatable competitor. He loved nothing New York to Peter and Joanna Schug. He was active in more than the opportunity to spend time with his family school and sports, including being a tandem running back and friends. duo with his twin brother in the era of leather football helmets. He was selected to attend college at the prestigious In his immediate family, John is survived by his wife, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Nina Marshall Schug; his daughters Carolyn Barker where he earned a degree in chemical engineering in 1957. (Brian) of Aldie, VA and Deborah Schug of Blacksburg, He continued on to the University of Illinois Urbana- VA; sons Steven Schug (Dana) of Taneytown, MD and Champaign and received a M.S. in chemistry in 1958 and a Kevin Schug, Ph.D. (Danielle) of Southlake, TX; step- Ph.D. in 1960 under the tutelage of eventual Nobel Laureate daughter Ginny Wagner of Roanoke, VA, as well as six Martin Karplus. His dissertation focused on temperature- grandsons (Christopher, Derek, Bradley, Bennett, Lucas dependent nucelar magnetic resonance spectroscopy. It and Wesley), one step-granddaughter (Alice) and two great was in Illinois where he met his first wife, Lin Gleason, and granddaughters (Brooklyn and Emma). His twin brother they were married in 1958. Charles Schug (Rita) of Gainesville, VA and his sisters Madeline Bednarek of Bend, OR and Lucille Giambalvo John’s first job was with Gulf Research and Development (Charles) of Kissimmee, FL also survive. He was preceded in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1964, he and his young family in death by his first wife, Linette Gleason Schug, and his moved to Blacksburg, VA, where he joined the faculty brother Peter Schug. of the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech as an assistant professor. He rose through the ranks and was awarded tenure as an associate professor in 1967 and Editor's Note: To honor his legacy, his son Kevin and John's fellow promoted to full professor in 1973. His independent Department of Chemistry Professor Harold McNair are working research career spanned primarily the area of theoretical to establish a John C. Schug Student Scholarship. They are hoping to physical chemistry and quantum mechanics. He directed raise $15,000 to be awarded in $1,000 increments over 15 years. The the theses of 17 Ph.D. and M.S. students and published 67 scholarship would be awarded yearly to a deserving undergraduate peer-reviewed articles. He also wrote and published a book student who received top marks in Physical Chemistry during their titled, Introductory Quantum Chemistry. For many years, he schooling. For those that would like to donate, checks should be made and his wife Lin were avid fox hunters and enjoyed nearly out to “Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.” and include “In Memory of John any opportunity to ride together. John even became quite Schug” in the memo line.

FALL 2019 15 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Department of Chemistry (0212) Blacksburg, VA 24060 Permit No. 28 Davidson Hall Room 480, Virginia Tech 1040 Drillfield Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061

HELP YOUNG CHEMISTS GET STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT

Contributions from our alumni and friends help our many deserving undergraduate and graduate students by providing state-of-the-art facilities, expanding research activities and allowing the department to respond to new opportunities immediately.

To make an immediate contribution to the Department of Chemistry Annual Fund, you may visit the university’s website at givingto.vt.edu or contact the Office of Gift Accounting at (800) 533-1144.

For more information or to learn about other ways to support the Department of Chemistry, please contact Wade Stokes, Assistant Dean of Advancement, at (540) 231-4033 or [email protected].

We thank you in advance for your support.